A lot can happen in a year

President Lyndon Johnson opened his State of the Union address in Jan. 1968 by stating “our country is challenged, at home and abroad,” acknowledging both the growing conflict in Vietnam and “a certain restlessness - a questioning” within our borders. Economic growth was tempered by urban violence and unemployment, stubborn inequality, rising costs for medical care and pollution so bad the air was unsafe to breathe in several cities. LBJ proclaimed, “Much that we once accepted as inevitable, we now find absolutely intolerable.” Unlike today, however, what he deemed “intolerable” was not certain kinds of other Americans or his political opponents or our global trading partners or the media. It was a country not living up to its promise, a nation “capable of solving its problems” that lacked the drive to act for the greater good.

Johnson outlined an ambitious policy agenda for 1968 that included a tax increase designed to fund not only the war but new investments in job training, affordable housing, prenatal care, law enforcement, agricultural price supports, environmental programs, anti-poverty efforts, public education and other domestic initiatives. He called for new regulations on guns, oil pipelines, food safety and car insurance. Consumer protection, truth-in-lending, clearing judicial backlogs, air safety and college affordability made his to-do list as well.

Sadly, 1968 would prove to be a year of challenge and tragedy on almost every level.

One week after the address, the U.S.S. Pueblo was seized by North Korea and its crew of 83 sailors were held captive until a few days before Christmas. Shortly after the North Vietnamese military began the Tet Offensive, regarded by many as the turning point in public support for the war. Following Tet, newsman Walter Cronkite concluded “the only rational way out [of Vietnam] will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.” LBJ, upon hearing this, reportedly stated “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”

In March, anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy stunned the Democratic establishment by nearly defeating President Johnson in the New Hampshire primary. Sensing Johnson’s vulnerability, Robert Kennedy entered the race soon after. On March 31st, the President decided not to seek another term in office, telling a national television audience ''I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.''

On April 4th, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis and riots broke out in cities around the nation. 46 people died in the ensuing violence and entire neighborhoods were destroyed.

Formal peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam began in May. The resulting treaty would not be signed until 1973.

Robert Kennedy, fresh from a campaign victory in the California presidential primary, was assassinated on June 5th.

Johnson signed a “tax surcharge” bill on June 28th, boosting tax rates by 10% to help fund both the war and his domestic agenda.

In August, Republicans nominated Richard Nixon as their candidate for president in Miami. Two weeks later, the Democratic convention in Chicago, marked by protests and marred by police violence, nominated Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey, while tear gas clouded the streets outside the hall.

In late October, LBJ announced a halt to U.S. bombing in Vietnam. A week later, Richard Nixon was elected president. The war would drag on for six more years and Johnson’s ambitious domestic agenda was dead in the water.

Nobody could have known how consequential the coming year would be in January 1968. Johnson’s State of the Union was optimistic, concluding that “If ever there were a time to know the pride and the excitement and the hope of being an American - it is this time.” Less than a year later he was preparing to move home to Texas, his party in disarray and his policy goals largely unrealized.

A lot can happen in a year and signs are already pointing to 2018 being another one for the history books. Here’s hoping it's far less fraught and tragic than 1968 ultimately turned out to be.

This is the opinion of Derek Larson, who teaches History and Environmental Studies at The College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. He welcomes your comments at twg@anderson-larson.net. His column is published the first Wednesday of the month.